Updates » Updates » Soccer players – yes, poets – no: Who is allowed to leave the Gaza Strip for the West Bank?

Soccer players – yes, poets – no: Who is allowed to leave the Gaza Strip for the West Bank?

A new table summarizing the criteria issued by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) for travel from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank has been posted on our Facebook page. Travel from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank is currently possible only if the applicant meets one of the criteria and does not have a security preclusion against him or her. So, for example, a student from the Gaza Strip cannot travel to the West Bank for her studies even if she is not security blocked, simply because she does not meet the criteria. The information in the table is based on publications issued by COGAT and the work of Gisha’s legal department.

Gisha has been working to expand the criteria so that Gaza residents can travel to the West Bank – whether for family visits or for studies or professional seminars – subject only to individual security checks. Adv. Sari Bashi, Gisha Executive Director, has recently written to COGAT Commander, Major General Eitan Dangot, requesting that the criteria for granting permits from Gaza be expanded to include participation in mourning rituals. Adv. Itamar Inbari wrote to Adv. Ruth Bar, Assistant to the Defense Minister, requesting the establishment of a mechanism for individually examining applications by Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip who wish to study in academic institutions in the West Bank.